Suzanne Clothier has long been a favorite dog training guru of mine. I wholeheartedly agree with her outspoken concept of the necessity of
relationship in human-dog interaction. It saddens me the extent that some people take the NILIF (nothing in life is free) concept with their dogs (especially those who compete with their dogs). But, that is a whole other story. Not today's blog topic! :)
Suzanne recently posted a new article on her website
http://suzanneclothier.com/the-articles/if-only-hadnt-happened-dog-would-be-fine that was not only a good read, as usual, but also a good reality check for puppy raisers.
I raised a nut-case puppy once (said with the utmost love!). Don't get me wrong, he was sweet, and well-behaved, but he exuded stress and anxiety in way too many situations. With intentional management, good handling skills, and a bonded relationship, he
appeared okay. This puppy continued in the puppy raising program until he was recalled for formal training, where he fell apart in a way I never thought would happen, and was career changed. At that moment, I realized how much he had been using me to support him emotionally. I rationalized that it was a specific incident in the fear period of his life that caused his anxiety, but reality is that his nature just couldn't handle the specific experience, whereas another puppy may have been fine.
This article by Suzanne Clothier speaks to the nature vs nurture debate. I had to agree with having heard many of the excuses that Suzanne mentioned having heard from dog owners. Ditto. It's not just nature, or nurture, but how each impacts the other. When she talks about dogs on the different ends of the spectrums of adaptability, flexibility, and emotional stability, I saw the ideal guide dog puppy jump out. To quote Suzanne, "On the other end of the behavior spectrum are the animals who can adjust, continue to function, who have coping skills. These animals are "take them anywhere, do anything with them!" hardy souls remaining highly functional under even extreme situations. They are able to recover quickly even from distressing experiences. Their behavior is robust, flexible, adaptive, and resilient. Typically, these animals can move easily between varying environments and a wide range of demands without any significant changes in their behavior. Since they
can adapt to their environment,
the environment does not need to be adapted for them.
This is why puppy raising programs can be so effective. If a group of people can be taught to raise puppies in the same sort of way, then we truly allow for the nature of these carefully bred puppies to come to life by the generally homogenous nurturing they receive. The puppies who are on the end of the behavior spectrum mentioned above thrive no matter where they lived or the dog savvy of their raiser. They are going to be guide dogs no matter what. And then there are puppies who's nature is not stamped with "guide dog"; they have natural tendencies to be anxious about some or many things (which again, could be due in part to early experiences impacting genetic tendencies thereby affecting consequent behavior- hard to pinpoint for us). These puppies do in fact benefit from the more dog savvy or diligent raiser who can effectively influence behavior enough that the dog learns to compensate for it's area of weakness. But sometimes, that is not enough. Sometimes, the handler-puppy relationship is the glue holding the dog together, and when that glue is broken, the dog cannot stand on his own (in the way necessary for a dog making life-saving decisions). And that is okay. Every carefully bred puppy cannot possibly have the specific combination of nature and nurture needed to be a guide dog. We do our puppies a lot of injustice when we deny them the opportunity to achieve their highest calling in life. For some dogs that might be loving on people in a therapy setting, or competing in dog sports, or search & rescue . Of course, there is the most commonly seen, yet no less regarded and treasured, family dog. They are who they are, and we must consider each puppy as an individual with different limits, capabilities, and sensitivities.
